Improvement in car-couplings



UNITED STATES PATENT CEEICE.

LEMAN P. RIDER, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-COUPLINGS..n

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 144,412, dated November 1l, 1873; application ltd May 26, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEMAN P. RIDER, of Pittsburg, in the comity of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Oar-Coupling; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a sectional view of two adjacent draw-heads, which embody my improvements, in the act of coupling. Fig. 2 is a like view of two draw-heads upon cars of different heights, and illustrates the method of coupling the same. The coupling-pin of the left-hand head is removed for the purpose of showing more fully a device for securing the saine from being jarred or thrown out of position when in use. Fig. 3 is a section through the line x x, Fig. l.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each. i

My invention relates to that class of carcouplings in which the cars are coupled automatically, and in which the link-guiding device is operative om the outside or from the platform of the cars, so as to obviate the necessity of going between them; and it consists in the construction and arrangement of the several parts, substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

Io enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will describe its oonstruction and operation.

The drawlieads a c1 are of the ordinary form known as bell-mouth, and are provided with a slot or opening, b, in the top for the insertion of the coupling-pin c. The pin c has an arm, c1, extending forward to the pivot e, upon which it hangs so as to have a swinging motion, as illustrated in the head al in Fig. l. The front side c4 of the pin c is straight, so

that when the pin is dropped into the opening b, the pivot c catches upon the edge of the slot b, and the pin falls forward so as to bring its side c4 against the straight side a2 of theinner y part of the head, which guides it to place. The

inner part of the draw-head is cut away so as to provide room for the backward swing of the hinged pin c.

In coupling the cars the link d strikes the pin c, causing it to swing backward until the link slides past, when the weight of the pin causes it to fall or drop through the link. By hinging the pin c forward at e, I secure a minimum of slack in the link, for the pin begins to rise as soon as struck by the link, instead of first swinging back, as would be the case if the pin hung vertically from the pivot e.

The back side of the lower end of the pin is sheared off, to correspond with a circle described by a radius centering at the pivot c. The result of this construction is, that as soon as the link passes the point c3 of the pin c, the pin falls through the link without any further backward movement of the link.

By extending the arc of the circle a distance up from the point c" of the pin, I am enabled to increase the thickness of the pin without necessitating afurther backward movement of the link in coupling, and thereby I reduce still further the slack between the cars. In fact I am able, by carefully following this construction, to reduce the slack to from one inch and a half to two inches, which I believe is the minimum.

In order to guide the link d when the cars to be coupled are of different heights, I place the U-shaped guide or lifter f in the groove g i. i

in the bottom of the coupling-head. This lifter j' is hinged at f', back of which one of its arms passes through the loop h1 of the lever h. The lever h has its fulcrum in the rigid loop i, and

is operative at the side of the car by the hani dle h2, or on the platform or within the car by the handle h3, to move the guide f, so as to guide the link d to any desired height within4 its range. In order to get the widest range for the link d, the guide-lever f must be pivoted in advance of the projection of the upper slope of the mouth of the draw-head, so that if the lever f is raised, its end will strike the upper slopec. In order to allow the forward end of the link d to drop down so as to be coupled with a lower car, I make a reverse slope, k, at the back end of the inner part of the coupling-head. The slope 'v is made at such an angle as to permit the link d, while lying against the slope, as shown in Fig. 2, on the lowest car, to couple with the highest car, and the reverse slope k is made at such an angle as to permit the link d, when on the highest car, to couple with the lowest. When the link d is raised by means of thc lifter j', the point t acts as a fulcrum to throw its forward end up to the required height or angle. At one side of the front end of the slot bis a droplatch', r, which is to hold the pin c in its place, and is of such construction that it permits the pin c to drop into place, but not to be withdrawn without being first drawn back itself. The journal c of the pin c, in its descent, strikes the latch r, which permits it to slide past, and

Y then springs back into place, standingrdirectly over the journal c, so as to prevent it from being jarred or otherwise accidentally thrown out of place. The latch r is secured by the chain a to the pin-chain c5, so that when the pin c is withdrawn by means of the chain c5 the latch r will be raised and permit the escape of the pin. To provide against the displacement of the pin c in case the latch r should be removed, I cut out the bearing in which the journals c of the pin rest, so as to form a ledge, c', under which the journals c rest when the pin is in place. The loop h1 on the operative lever h is made large so as not to bind the arm of the U-shaped lifter f, to accommodate the back play of the couplinghead. On the top of the U-shaped lifter f rI make two recesses, s, for the purpose of holding the link d in linethat is, to prevent its lateral displacement.

By means of these several devices, and their peculiar arrangement, I secure a self-couplin g apparatus which overcomes the objection to the swinging pin, (by securing its operation with a minimum of slack,) which is adapted to cars of different heights, simple in construction, not liable to get out of order, and which entirely obviates the necessity of going between thc cars for the purpose of guiding the link.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The pin c,having the arm cV1 and journals c, in combination with the ledge e on the draw-head, and latch o, substantially as set forth.

2. The U-shaped lifter f, with one side or arm of the U projecting back and passing loosely through the loop h1 in the lever h, and 

